Historical Novel Based on German Immigrant Descendant’s Family Portrait Addresses Indigenous and Settler Experiences in Iowa
(Grass Valley, CA) –Sibylline Press is honored to announce the upcoming release of Unsettled by Patricia Reis, slated for October 10, 2023. This is the first novel for the 82-year-old nonfiction writer and former professor.
Based on a family portrait passed down to Reis by her father, coupled with her own methodical research, the historical novel illustrates the tensions between indigenous peoples and those who “settled” Iowa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Those hostilities birthed family secrets that echoed through into modern day relationships and personalities.
The adventure begins when Van Reinhardt comes across a request her father penned to her upon his death. Fulfilling that request sends Van to a little town in Iowa, where a group of kind women helps her discover calamitous events in probate records, farm auction lists, asylum records and lurid obituaries – uncovering a family story far more complex and tumultuous than Van had expected.
About Patricia Reis:
Patricia Reis holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin, an MFA from UCLA and a degree in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara. She maintains a private practice of psychotherapy for women. In the mid-1800s, her German immigrant ancestors pioneered a farm in southwestern lowa and those roots live on in her Midwesterner heart. Reis has lived on both coasts and currently resides in Portland, Maine, and spends six months of each year in Nova Scotia. She is the author of several nonfiction books.
UNSETTLED by Patricia Reis | 10-10-2023 | Tradepaper | ISBN: 978-1-7367954-8-4 | Historical Fiction | 363 Pages | $18.99
Sibylline Press publishes the work of brilliant women over 50, exclusively. It was founded in 2022 by publishing industry veterans Vicki DeArmon, Julia Park Tracey, Alicia Feltman, and Anna Termine. Sibylline Press is distributed to the trade by Publishers Group West. Sibylline Press takes its name from the Sibylline Books, the ancient writings of wise older women, the Sibyls. More at sibyllinepress.com.
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